Words by

Jóhannes Bjarkason

Photo by

Iceland At Night

On October 13, weather conditions in West Iceland presented good visibility to spot the comet Tuschinshan-ATLAS. The comet was at its lowest point last Saturday, RÚV reports.

Discovered by China’s Purple Mountain Observatory (Tuschinshan) in January 2023, it was later confirmed and confirmed to be a comet by the ATLAS telescope in South Africa, hence its name.

According to the astronomy website Iceland At Night, the comet is best seen looking west in the evenings between October 12-15 — climbing higher into the sky as the month progresses.

Like most comets, it was formed in the Oort cloud, approximately one lightyear away from Earth.